Sighting apparatus



Dec. 19, 1967 s. R. FREEBAIRN SIGHTING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR jay/z/z/ 1Q fieda/k/z ATTORNEY Filed Oct. 1, 1965 Dec. 19, 1967s. R. FREEBAIRN SIGHTING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 1, 1965INVENTOR @2022? ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,358,504 SIGHTINGAPPARATUS Samuel Russell Freebairn, 4181 Jupiter Drive, Salt Lake City,Utah 84117 Filed Oct. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 492,132 Claims. (Cl. 73167) Thisinvention relates generally to a sighting apparatus and moreparticularly to a device for zeroing in rifles and other types offirearms.

Many devices are known for checking or testing the accuracy of gunsights. Many of the prior known devices rely upon the maintenance of theutmost stability of the firearm throughout the testing procedure wherebyprovision is made for preventing even the slightest displacement of theweapon during the firing of a plurality of cartridges therefrom. Inorder to achieve this effect, it has heretofore been a practice toconstruct the gun mount of extremely heavy components tending to resistany displacement as a result of the firing of the weapon and toincorporate any of various means for tightly clamping the weapon withinthe gun mount which in turn is usually permanently mounted upon a heavybench.

Accordingly, one of the primary objects of the present invention is toprovide a sighting apparatus comprising a lightweight easily transporteddevice which may be readily adapted for use in the field by, say, ahunter, as well as adaptable for use on a firing range by attaching thebase of the mount to a rigid pipe or other supporting member fixedlydisposed within the ground.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sightingapparatus which may be set up to test any type of firearm in a matter ofseconds, and which provides means for rigidly clamping only the buttstock of the firearm while merely providing a cradle type support forthe forearm stock of the weapon. With the present invention, the actualtime consumed in conducting the actual zeroing in of the weapon amountsto only a few seconds in view of the novel construction thereinprovided. This feature, coupled with the ease or portability of thepresent device, makes readily available an improved sighting apparatusnot previously known in the art. Heretofore, it has usually only beenthe most expert of riflemen who could afford the time and expensenecessary to have their firearms zeroed in in view of thenon-availability of a simple inexpensive apparatus for accomplishingthis procedure. All shooting enthusiasts realize, however, that the lineof sight of each of their weapons will vary considerably, not only as aresult of time and use, but also between manufacturers lots of a singleprescribed size and weight of. ammunition. Thus, it becomesevident thatit would behoove each shooter to have his weapon zeroed in, not only asingle initial time, but also whenever he changes from one bullet. sizeor powder weight of ammunition to another, or even changed lots in asingle rating of ammunition. With the present invention, a sightingapparatus is provided of inexpensive construction which may be easilytransported, even into the field, by a hunting party so that each andevery member may readily zero in his firearm in a mere matter, ofseconds, usually requiring only the firing of two rounds of ammunitionper weapon.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a sightingapparatus including a pair of V-way suspended supporting clamps intowhich the weapon is deposited, said suspended clamps being in turnpivotally mounted to a pair of parallel frame members, in turn pivotallymounted upon a body member.

Still another object of the present invention is to pro vide a sightingapparatus including a pair of pivoted firearm supporting frame memberswhich are equally stock clamp assembly 7 guide bars 1313 and includes an3,358,594 Patented Dec. 19, 1967 displaced in an arcuate manner by theforce of the recoil of the Weapon when it is fired, and which arereturned by arrestor means to the exact original position without anydisplacement of the bore sighting of the weapon from its originalposition.

With these and other objects in view which will more readily appear whenthe nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists inthe novel construction, combination, and arrangement of partshereinafter more fully described, illustrated, and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation, with portions broken away, of a sightingapparatus according to the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the present invention.

FIGURE 3 is a front elevation view of the present invention.

FIGURE 4 is a rear elevation view of the present invention.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, particularly FIGURE 1, it will be seenthat the present invention comprises a device which is relativelycompact and lightweight and which thus may be readily transported, eveninto the field, by a hunter for the purpose of zeroing in his rifle inorder to ensure accuracy of bullet impact, even at ranges in excess of1000 yards. Basically, the sighting apparatus comprises a longitudinalbody member 1 having pivotally journalled at opposite ends thereof asubstantially U-shaped front frame member 2 and rear frame member 3. Thebearings (not shown) disposed within the ends of the body member 1 andcontaining the pivotal axles 4 and 5 are of the adjustable type so thatmaximum precision may be maintained to eliminate any possible free playin the attachment of the front and rear frames to the body member.Pivotally suspended from the upper ends of the forks of the front frame2 and rear frame 3 are, respectively, a front V-Way clamp assemblygenerally designated 6 and a rear butt stock clamp assembly generallydesignated 7. From a review of FIGURES 3 and 4 it will be seen that thetwo clamp assemblies are each pivotally suspended from the upper endsof. the front and rear frames by means of stub axles 8 which arejournalled within suitable bearings 9, contained in the upper forks orarms of the frame members.

The front and rear frame members may be of substantially identicalconstruction. However, the front clamp assembly 6 and rear clampassembly 7 are necessarily entirely different in construction from oneanother in view of their use during operation of the sighting apparatus.As will be most clearly seen in FIGURE 1, the rear butt is disposed withits vertical axis offset and to the rear of the pivotal axis of the stubaxles 8 journalled Within the rear frame member 3. As will be seen inFIGURE 4, the bottom of the rear clamp assembly 7 is provided with aV-way 10, the upper exposed surfaceof which is preferably covered with aprotective cushion layer such as neoprene. Disposed above the bottom ofV-way 10 is a butt stock clamp bar 11 having an in verted V-way surface12 facing the V-way 10. The clamp bar 11 is mounted within the confinesof the rear clanip assembly 7 by means of a pair of vertically disposedclamp adjustment screw 14 threaded through the top of the clamp assembly7 and having its lower end freely journalled within the medial portionof the butt stock clamp bar 11. Pivotally mounted between a pair ofrearwardly projecting offset brackets 1515 is a rifle butt support plate16 which is provided with a protective cushion layer on its forwardlyfacing surface as will be seen in FIGURE 1. From the foregoing, it willnow be understood that when placing a firearm in the sighting apparatus,the butt of the weapon is disposed in juxtaposed relationship to therifle butt support plate 16 with the bottom of the rifle butt restingupon the bottom V-way of the clamp assembly 7. With the weapon thuspositioned, the clamp screw 14 is turned to force the butt stock clampbar 11 downwardly until the upper V-way 12 firmly grips the top of therifle butt to hold the weapon in a rigid position in the sightingdevice.

With the butt stock portion of the rifle firmly anchored within theclamp assembly 7, the forearm stock portion of the weapon is adapted tobe disposed upon the V-way portion 17 of the front clamp assembly 6.This front clamp assembly 6 includes a main body portion 18 of generallyU-shaped configuration and which is pivotally supported within the frontframe 2 by means of the aforedescribed stub axles 8. Straddling thefront and rear of the main body portion 18 are a pair of scissor arms19-19, each of which is pivotally mounted to the main body portion as at20. Depending from the lowermost medial portion of the main body portion18 is a guide 21 having a slot 22 provided therein (FIGURE 1). Looselydisposed within the slot 22 is a scissor adjustment screw 23 about whichare threaded a pair of sleeves 24-24. The ends of each of the threadedsleeves 24 are pivotally mounted within the front and rear portions ofeach of the scissor arms 19, whereupon it will be obvious that as theadjustment screw 23 is turned, the left and right hand threads providedthereon will move the two sleeves 24 concurrently either towards theends of the screw 23 or towards the depending guide 21, dependent uponthe direction the screw 23 is rotated. In view of the pivotal mountingof the two scissor arms 19 upon the pivots 20, it will follow that asthe screw 23 is turned, the upper ends of the scissor arms 19 will bemoved either towards one another or away from one another in an arcuatemanner. As shown in FIGURE 3, the upper portions of the scissor arms19-19 are each provided upon their oppositely facing surfaces with arubber bumper 25a for reasons which will become obvious immediatelyhereinafter.

When the fire-arm has been anchored within the rear clamp assembly 7 andthe forearm stock is resting upon the V-way 17 of the front clampassembly 6, the screw 23 is rotated to move the two sleeves 24, 24outwardly away from the guide 21 to pivot the scissor arms 19 and movethe bumpers 25a towards one another until the forward portion of therifle is urged downwardly thereby to suitably retain the front of theweapon Within the V-way 17. It will be understood as this descriptionprogresses that the front clamp assembly 2 does not have to serve thepurpose of rigidly locking the forearm portion of the weapon in thesighting apparatus against the usual recoil reaction encountered, and isprimarily to prevent later-a1 displacement of the weapon during thesubsequent firing thereof. An important feature of the present inventionwhich precludes any raising or climbing of the bore of the weapon duringthe recoil thereof is that the line of thrust which passes through thecenter of the firearms bore, if extended rearwardly, would pass throughthe center of the pivoting stub axles 8, 8 in the rear frame 3. Thefront and rear frame, as well as the front and rear clamp assemblies,are maintained in their respective parallel relationship by means of atie-rod 25, having its opposite ends rigidly attached to the front andrear clamp assemblies. In order to balance the forces reacting on thefront and rear clamp assemblies, it is proposed to provide a separatetie rod 25 to interconnect both the left and right hand sides of the twoclamp assemblies.

The front and rear frames which will always be disposed in parallelrelationship in view of the tie rods 25, '25 interconnecting the frontand rear clamp assemblies, assume a normal or at-rest position with theupper portions thereof inclined forwardly as shown in FIGURE 1. Theframe members are biased to this at-rest position by means of anarrestor cylinder 26, preferably comprising a pneumatic cylinderoperating on the similar principle, as a door closer and having one, endof the cylinder pivotally anchored as at 27 to the undersurface of thebody member 1 while the slidable piston rod 28 has its outer free endpivotally connected to the lower rear edge of the front frame member 2below the, pivotal axis of the axle 4. It will be understood that thearrestor 26 will include any suitable conventional valve means (notshown) as commonly found in many cylinders of this type, whereby theresistance, and therefore the speed with which the piston rod 28 isextended and retracted, may be altered in order to accommodate firearmshaving widely different recoil forces.

The present invention provides means whereby practically any firearm maybe zeroed in by firing usually no more than two shots, regardless of howfar from the bullseye the first shot strikes the target. In order toaccomplish this, fast, accurate, and smooth means must be rovided formaking elevation and wind adjustment to the line of sight of the weapon.Means are included to enable the operator to make both rapid or coarseelevation and wind age adjustments as well as fine precision windage andelevation adjustments to the body member 1, it being apparent that anyvertical and lateral movements directed to the body member 1 will betransmitted as a correspond ing movement of the line of sight of theweapon mounted within the front and rear clamp assemblies of thesighting apparatus.

The body member 1 is mounted for pivotal movement upon a carrier 29comprising a channel member having a horizontal base 30 and a pair ofvertically disposed side walls 31, 31. The side walls 31, 31 aregenerally of triangular configuration in side elevation and are attachedto the body member 1, adjacent the upper vertex thereof by means of asuitable shaft 32 which is equipped with bearings to provide a smooth,effortless, pivotal movement of the body member 1 upon the carrier 29.The carrier 29 is in turn supported upon a base 33 by means of acircular hub 34 depending from the bottom 30 of the carrier andjournalled Within said base 33 for rotary movement with respect to thebase. From the above description, it will be seen that suitable meansare provided to permit both lateral or windage movement of the line ofsight of the firearm as the carrier 29 is pivoted about the verticalaxis passing through the base 33, and also vertical or elevationmovement by means of the horizontal pivot axis formed by thebearing-equipped shaft 32 joining the body member 1 to the side walls ofthe carrier 29. 9

Means for regulating the vertical and horizontal disposition of the lineof sight of the firearm is provided by a plurality of screw threadedelements for adjusting and holding the relative position between thefixed base 33, the carrier 29, and the body member 1, as will now bedescribed. Disposed within a peripheral groove 35 formed in the upperportion of the base 33 is a windage clamp 36 comprising a split ringhaving a pair of spaced apart clamping ears 37, 37 formed at the freeends thereof. A clamp screw 38 freely passing through one of said cars37 engages a tapped opening in the other ear 36 whereby the windageclamp 36 will be tightened about the peripheral groove 35 in base 33 asthe clamping screw 38 is moved in one direction and will be loosened asit is moved in the opposite direction for purposes which will becomeobvious immediatelyhereinafter. Attached to the split ring of thewindage clamp 36 at a point diametrically opposed to the clamping screw38 is a horizontally disposed oifset arm 39 extending outwardly to apoint underlying the forward portion of the carrier 29. As will be seenin FIGURE 1, a pair of upstanding stops 40 and 41 are provided alongopposite side edges of the offset arm 39, the stop 40 being disposedadjacent the split ring portion of the windage clamp 36, while the stop.41 is adjacent the free outer edge of the offset arm 39'. Depending fromthe bottom portion 30 of the carrier 29 and laterally opposed to thestops 40 and 41 is an ear 42 and threaded sleeve 43, respectively. Aswill be seen most clearly in FIGURE 3, a windage screw is threadedthrough the sleeve 43 and has its free end positioned in abutment withthe vertically disposed stop 41 on the offset arm 39. The constantbiasing of the end of the screw 44 against the stop 41 is ensured bymeans of a compression spring 45, having its opposite ends bearing uponthe inner surfaces of the opposed stop 40 and ear 42. In this manner, itwill be understood that relative positioning of the carrier 29 withrespect to the windage clamp 36 is achieved by rotation of the windagescrew 44. Prior to utilizing the screw 44, it will often be advantageousto initially obtain a rough windage adjustment of the line of sight bymeans of the clamping screw 38. When the firearm has been secured withinthe front and rear clamp assemblies, the screw 38 is loosened to releasethe clamping pressure of the split ring 36 upon the base 33 whereby thecarrier 29 and body member 1 may be manually moved about the verticalaxis of the base 33 to achieve a rough setting of the windageadjustment, whereafter the clamping screw 38 is tightened. Then when itis desired to exactly pinpoint the windage portion of the line of sightadjustment, the windage fine adjustment screw 44 is manipulated to movethe carrier 29 laterally with respect to the now fixedly disposedwindage clamp 36.

Elevation adjustment of the body member 1 about the horizontallydisposed pivot 32 is accomplished by means of a threaded elevation screw46 having its free end freely journalled within a suitable pivot member47 carried by the body member 1. Pivotally mounted between the sidewalls 31, 31 at the rear of the carrier 29 is an elevation slide housing48 which includes a smooth cylindrical passageway and a pair of spacedapart locking cars 49, 49 adjacent a split portion in the housing.Disposed within the bore of the slide housing 8 is an elevationadjustment slide 50 having a threaded bore therein. A locking screw 51passes freely through one of the locking ears 49 and engages a tappedopening in the other locking car 49, whereby clamping pressure may beapplied by tightening the screw 51 to lock the otherwise freely slidablemember 50 within the housing 48. The elevation adjustment will now beapparent from the foregoing description where it will be seen that byloosening the locking screw 51, the body member 1 may be tilted aboutthe horizontal pivot 32 to achieve a rapid coarse adjustment of theelevation of the line of sight. During this manual adjustment of thebody member 1, the slide 50 will be free to move within the loosenedpassageway of the housing 48 until a crude or coarse elevationadjustment is achieved whereafter the locking screw 51 will then betightened. Following this coarse adjustment, a precision elevationadjustment is accomplished by the subsequent rotating of the elevationfine adjustment screw 46 which will turn within the threaded bore of theslide 50 to raise or lower the journalled free end of the screw which isattached to the body member 1 at the pivot member 47. The manner ofutilizing the present invention to achieve an accurate zeroing in of thefirearm by firing only two shots will now be described. After thefirearm is proper-1y seated within the front and rear clamp assemblies 6and 7, the firearm is bore-sighted upon a suitable target bymanipulating the aforedescribed windage and elevation adjustment meansto center upon the bullseye of the target. The firearm sights arethereafter adjusted to the same center of the target. A first round isthen fired from the firearm, preferably by means of any suitableelectrical or remote mechanism for depressing the weapon trigger withoutcausing undesirable displacement of the weapon within the sightingapparatus. The strike of the bullet is then noted. During the firing ofthe round, the force of the recoil will be transmitted through the riflebutt support plate 16 to the rear clamp assembly 7 and also to the frontclamp assembly 6 by means of the tie rods 25 so that both the front 2and rear 3 frame members will be displaced rearwardly against the forceof the arrestor cylinder 26 and thereafter returned to the exact sameforward, or at-rest position, by retraction of the piston rod 28 withinthe cylinder 26.

The strike of the fired round is marked or otherwise clearly identifiedso that the sights of the weapon may then be adjusted to align with themarked bullet strike. By the subsequent manipulation of the fineelevating screw 46 and windage screw 44, the sight alignment is thenfixed to the center of the target, and a second round is fired whichwill strike the target center and verify the proper zeroing in of theweapon for the particular range and ammunition involved.

The embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the drawings disclosesa truly portable arrangement, whereby the base 33 is supported upon adetachable folding tripod assembly 52 comprising a plurality of legs 53pivotally attached to a threaded plug 54 adapted to engage a threadedopening within the base 33. Alternatively, the sighting apparatus may bemore rigidly mounted by applying the internally threaded base 33 to anexteriorly threaded pipe, suitably anchored within the ground.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specificfeatures shown, but that the means of construction herein disclosedcomprise the preferred form of several modes of putting the inventioninto effect, and the invention will therefore be understood in any ofits forms or modifications within the legitimate and valid scope of theappended claims.

Iclaim:

1. A sighting apparatus for firearms, comprising, front and rear clampassemblies for supporting the forestock and buttstock of a firearmrespectively, front and rear frame members including means pivotallysuspending said front and rear clamp assemblies therein, body meanshaving means pivotally mounting said front and rear frame membersthereon in spaced apart relationship, means interconnecting said frontand rear clamp assemblies and maintaining same in parallel relationshipas said frame members pivot about said body means during recoil of saidfirearm following firing thereof, and arrestor means between one of saidframe members and said body means partially absorbing the force of therecoil and returning the pivotally mounted frame member to an at-restposition.

2. In a sighting apparatus according to claim 1, a carrier disposedbelow and pivotally attached to said body means to permit angulardisplacement therebetween in a vertical plane, and base means supportingsaid carrier and pivotally attached thereto to permit angulardisplacement therebetween in a horizontal plane.

3. In a sighting apparatus according to claim 2, adjustable elevationmeans rigidly interconnecting said body means and carrier to alter theangular relationship therebetween.

4. In a sighting apparatus according to claim 2, adjustable windagemeans rigidly interconnecting said base means and carrier to alter theangular relationship therebetween.

5. A sighting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, said elevationmeans comprises, an internally threaded member normally anchored to saidcarrier, and a screw freely journalled in said body means and passingthrough said member in said carrier.

6. A sighting apparatus according to claim 5, including a housingattached to said carrier, said internally threaded member normallysecured against movement in said housing, and locking means on saidhousing operable to release said threaded member to permit rapidconcurrent displacement of said screw and threaded member.

7. A sighting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, said windagemeans comprises, a clamp releasably engaging said base means andincluding an arm provided with stop means, a screw mounted in saidcarrier and having its free end in abutment with said stop means; andmeans constantly urging said screw end against said stop means.

8. A sighting apparatus according to claim 7, including a lock screw onsaid clamp operable to release said clamp from engagement with said basemeans to permit rapid concurrent angular displacement of said clamp,carrier and body means.

9. In a sighting apparatus according to claim 1, V- way support surfacesin the bottom of said front and rear clamp assemblies, a verticallyadjustable clamp bar mounted in said rear assembly, a pair of adjustablescissor arms pivotally mounted on said front assembly, and

' 8 a support plate attached to said rear assembly and adapted to engagethe butt of the firearm when secured by said clamp assemblies.

10. A sighting apparatus according to claim 9, Wherein, said supportplate is pivotally mounted to provide full contact engagement with thefirearm butt.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS DAVID SCHONBERG, PrimaryExaminer.

1. A SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR FIREARMS, COMPRISING, FRONT AND REAR CLAMPASSEMBLIES FOR SUPPORTING THE FORESTOCK AND BUTTSTOCK OF A FIREARMRESPECTIVELY, FRONT AND REAR FRAME MEMBERS INCLUDING MEANS PIVOTALLYSUSPENDING SAID FRONT AND REAR CLAMP ASSEMBLIES THEREIN, BODY MEANSHAVING MEANS PIVOTALLY MOUNTING SAID FRONT AND REAR FRAME MEMBERSTHEREON IN SPACED APART RELATIONSHIP MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID FRONTAND REAR CLAMP ASSEMBLIES AND MAINTAINING SAME IN PARALLEL RELATIONSHIPAS SAID FRAME MEMBERS PIVOT ABOUT SAID BODY MEANS DURING RECOIL OF SAIDFIREARM FOLLOWING FIRING THEREOF, AND ARRESTOR MEANS BETWEEN ONE OF SAIDFRAME MEMBERS AND SAID BODY MEANS PARTIALLY ABSORBING THE FORCE OF THERECOIL AND RETURNING THE PIVOTALLY MOUNTED FRAME MEMBER TO AN AT-RESTPOSITION.